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Alvarado plan CONTINUED FROM Page 1
Mark Arapostathis, Council members Colin Parent and Bill Baber will form the sub-committee to bring the specific plan changes forward and work on significant public outreach. The decision did not require a vote and came after David Witt presented an update to the planned development on behalf of the owner, Paydar Properties. The development would be constructed on 12 acres of relatively flat land near the 70th Street Trolley Station. It can be seen from the Interstate 8 freeway. It could hold up to 950 apartment units and have a student housing component. The land is on Alvarado Road between 70th Street and Comanche Drive. “This is really a unique site because it’s so isolated,” Witt said in response to Baber’s concern about neighbors. “[It is a] unique and challenging site that in the end will be consistent with the goals and policies of La Mesa.” The raised orange trolley line means the property is separated from other neighbors. The draft specific plan is on the website and an environmental review has already been conducted. Arapostathis requested that the sub-committee make extra effort to alert the community of the draft plan so the city can be as transparent as possible.
The project is in an area that regularly floods because of the Alvarado Creek. Witt said that the changes made by the project should fix the flooding issue for everyone. Council member Jack Shu raised environmental concerns about the project. He said that although the project meets the city’s current climate action plan, it may not meet future goals already being advanced by other cities. For instance, the development still uses gas appliances and solar panels would be installed later rather than during the initial build. “We're gonna make some allowances for this project and then we should get in return as much low-income and very low-income housing in return,” he said. Two members of the public submitted comments to the City Council meeting. The first said La Mesa’s peace and quiet is being worried by big developments and expressed concern about the RV park residents who will be kicked out. The second was supportive of the plan, particularly the transit-oriented aspect, but echoed Shu’s comment that the appliances should all be electric. View the draft plan and environmental impact studies at cityoflamesa.us/1639/ Alvarado-Specific-Plan. —Contributing editor Kendra Sitton can be reached at kendra@ sdnews.com.
NEWS Sprouts project CONTINUED FROM Page 3
senior housing, or whatever it might be that would really allow us to meet our mission and vision for the community.” Right now, the church wants to still provide childcare on the site, as well as maybe use the space for other community uses. “We’ve talked about partnering with the farmers market on Fridays and having a food truck over in that area where families can sit and use the playground and order to go from local restaurants and be able to sit in an open space and have children play in a community space where maybe some live music can be played,” DeMent said.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Although LMFUMC has made its decision to hold on to the daycare property, it is still left with the question of how to fund the needed repairs to the aging church buildings. “Now that we voted to say ‘no,’ we are now engaging in that ‘now what?’ And that is a 10-year plan of prioritizing our greatest needs on the campus, getting bidding on how much that would cost and how do we engage in that and how we would chip away at the issues,” DeMent said, adding that the 7,000-square-foot basement is the church’s biggest issue and priority because the space could eventually be used to generate
March 26 – April 23, 2021
La Mesa Courier
income or used to run programs that help the community. To raise the funds, LMFUMC will need to start a capital campaign, which DeMent described as “tough” because church membership has declined from 2,000 members in its “heyday” to current membership of just over 200. “It’s going to be a large price tag and to ask 200 people to dig deeper into their pockets, it’s just not going to be sustaining. We need to find alternative sources of income,” he said, adding that the church recently hired a grant writer and has rented out its bell tower to AT&T for use as a cell tower. “We’re going to need to be creative in how we finance things.” The church is not alone in its need for a new way to finance improvement projects. PacTrust is also now back to the drawing board in how to approach fixing the uneven parking lot, alley flooding and traffic-stopping loading dock behind Sprouts. “We do have a long-term plan to intensify the site and put some housing there but … anything we would be undertaking there would be happening over time and we’re only at the conceptual planning stage at this point. To be sure, if we were to redevelop that site with Sprouts as a continuing occupant there, we’d need to address the parking for Sprouts,” Hodson said, adding that plan would likely be a podium with housing built over a parking area. “But there is no plan that we’re
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reviewing with the city or anyone else at this point on that concept.” Although PacTrust lost some money pursuing the purchase of the Fireside Property, Hodson described the church’s decision as “completely logical” because it was based on the church’s needs and its mission. “We have a great relationship with the church and we’ve been collaboratively working on ideas for the whole block for the better part of three years,” he said. “They’re wonderful people and we have a great relationship with them.” Hodson added that he hopes that the goodwill between the church and PacTrust will be replicated when a new plan for the Sprouts property is eventually ready to be reviewed by the city and La Mesa residents. “I do think there is an opportunity for a thoughtfully-planned project here that produces a good outcome for the community,” he said. —Reach editor Jeff Clemetson at jeff@sdnews.com.
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